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The Particle Zoo: The Search for the Fundamental Nature of Reality
Particle Zoo
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
36 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 4, 2016
Most people know that you can take an object and break it down to its pure elements, and from that you can use an electron microscope to look at the very atoms that make up that element. In the early part of the twentieth century, we discovered that the atom consisted of protons, neutrons and electrons. For a while physicists thought that that was it, with regards to the makeup of all the elements. But, slowly and surely these three particles were split again and again to answer the fundamental question: what are these particles made from?
In this book Hesketh, explains the processes behind breaking down these particles into smaller and smaller pieces and sets about describing the wonders and mysteries that the scientists have discovered. We learn about the string theory, if there is dark matter and the finer nuances of quantum physics. In this strange new world we unearth the weird and wonderful time-travelling electrons, gravitons and glueballs and glimpse the fleeting trace of the neutrino. All of these sub particles are collectively called the particle zoo, the most elusive of which is the Higgs Bosun.
Hesketh is eminently qualified to write this, as he is an experimental particle physicist at the world’s largest and most expensive experiment, the Large Hadron Collider; better known as CERN. At this place particles are accelerated up to a speed not short of the speed of light before being slammed into each other. The result is a high energy collision and physicists spend hour pouring over the results determining just what particles are produced. A lot of what has been discovered fits the standard model that was developed in the 1970s, but for every question answered, there are more that are posed.
Overall Hesketh has written a comprehensive guide to the latest developments of the strange sub-atomic world. It is a very weird world indeed, but thankfully he does bring some clarity on the mystery that is particle physics. At times it is it baffling, and often stranger than fiction; as he says at one point ‘you couldn’t make it up’! But it is a good book for a reader interested in recent progress made at CERN and a general history of particle physics. 3.5 stars
In this book Hesketh, explains the processes behind breaking down these particles into smaller and smaller pieces and sets about describing the wonders and mysteries that the scientists have discovered. We learn about the string theory, if there is dark matter and the finer nuances of quantum physics. In this strange new world we unearth the weird and wonderful time-travelling electrons, gravitons and glueballs and glimpse the fleeting trace of the neutrino. All of these sub particles are collectively called the particle zoo, the most elusive of which is the Higgs Bosun.
Hesketh is eminently qualified to write this, as he is an experimental particle physicist at the world’s largest and most expensive experiment, the Large Hadron Collider; better known as CERN. At this place particles are accelerated up to a speed not short of the speed of light before being slammed into each other. The result is a high energy collision and physicists spend hour pouring over the results determining just what particles are produced. A lot of what has been discovered fits the standard model that was developed in the 1970s, but for every question answered, there are more that are posed.
Overall Hesketh has written a comprehensive guide to the latest developments of the strange sub-atomic world. It is a very weird world indeed, but thankfully he does bring some clarity on the mystery that is particle physics. At times it is it baffling, and often stranger than fiction; as he says at one point ‘you couldn’t make it up’! But it is a good book for a reader interested in recent progress made at CERN and a general history of particle physics. 3.5 stars
May 17, 2020
Gavin Kesketh does a really good job of simplifying complex ideas into everyday examples that anyone can understand while also providing interesting details for those with a background in science. Many of the ideas in this book are not taught until upper level college courses due to the intensity of the math but it is exciting to learn about the ideas in particle physics, especially the many mysteries that remain to be solved. Every particle in the Standard Model gets its chance in the spotlight but of course particular attention is paid to the Higgs Boson recently discovered in 2012. It's not light reading and you will have to re-read some sections but it is definitely worth it.
April 12, 2021
An interesting, clearly written and informative overview of particle physics - what the particles are, how they work and how they were discovered.
October 23, 2018
4.5/5.0
En los últimos meses he retomado con muchas ganas la lectura de libros científicos y de divulgación. Sin embargo, un problema con el que me suelo enfrentar es el de encontrar obras que tengan el nivel adecuado. Los libros de texto puros y duros suelen ser, obviamente, demasiado avanzados, y, por el contrario, los de divulgación más clásica tienden a simplificar excesivamente las cosas, prescindiendo de cualquier tipo de formalismo o expresión matemática y utilizando las mismas manidas metáforas una y otra y otra vez.
Afortunadamente, The Particle Zoo, de Gavin Hesketh, es una muy agradable excepción a esta última tendencia. Se trata de un libro de divulgación que no rehuye los elementos formales, sino que los presenta de forma simplificada pero completamente rigurosa, sin miedo de dejar caer una fórmula matemática aquí y allá. Además, reduce las alegorías y comparaciones al mínimo, llamando a las cosas por su nombre e identificando claramente lo que son descripciones aproximadas y lo que son conceptos científicos precisos.
Reseña completa en http://sentidodelamaravilla.blogspot....
En los últimos meses he retomado con muchas ganas la lectura de libros científicos y de divulgación. Sin embargo, un problema con el que me suelo enfrentar es el de encontrar obras que tengan el nivel adecuado. Los libros de texto puros y duros suelen ser, obviamente, demasiado avanzados, y, por el contrario, los de divulgación más clásica tienden a simplificar excesivamente las cosas, prescindiendo de cualquier tipo de formalismo o expresión matemática y utilizando las mismas manidas metáforas una y otra y otra vez.
Afortunadamente, The Particle Zoo, de Gavin Hesketh, es una muy agradable excepción a esta última tendencia. Se trata de un libro de divulgación que no rehuye los elementos formales, sino que los presenta de forma simplificada pero completamente rigurosa, sin miedo de dejar caer una fórmula matemática aquí y allá. Además, reduce las alegorías y comparaciones al mínimo, llamando a las cosas por su nombre e identificando claramente lo que son descripciones aproximadas y lo que son conceptos científicos precisos.
Reseña completa en http://sentidodelamaravilla.blogspot....
May 14, 2019
The best introduction to the Standard Model - how it works and how it was figured out -that I've read. Recommended for anybody who's interested in what's really going on beyond the atom.
January 15, 2020
My understanding of particle physics is pretty limited -- whatever I retained from high school and a few random books and articles since then. The ones I've read (that were written for lay readers) were interesting but I always reached a point of no return in the book, where I lost what was going on and never found it again.
The Particle Zoo is very different. I can't say I understood absolutely everything, but I feel like I got a lot of it and learned a ton. Most of that I attribute to Hesketh's writing style. He works on the ATLAS project at CERN, and if you've ever wanted to just pick the brain of a super smart person who does fascinating work, that's what his book feels like. It's very conversational but never feels dumbed-down or glossed-over. And in addition to learning about the Standard Model, I enjoyed the other areas of focus -- how the LHC works, what other theories are out there, and what's on the horizon.
It's obvious that Hesketh loves his work and the topic, and that energy is fully conserved in his writing (haha). Highly recommended.
The Particle Zoo is very different. I can't say I understood absolutely everything, but I feel like I got a lot of it and learned a ton. Most of that I attribute to Hesketh's writing style. He works on the ATLAS project at CERN, and if you've ever wanted to just pick the brain of a super smart person who does fascinating work, that's what his book feels like. It's very conversational but never feels dumbed-down or glossed-over. And in addition to learning about the Standard Model, I enjoyed the other areas of focus -- how the LHC works, what other theories are out there, and what's on the horizon.
It's obvious that Hesketh loves his work and the topic, and that energy is fully conserved in his writing (haha). Highly recommended.
April 1, 2021
Jedna z tych niewielu pozycji, w której autor potrafi w prosty sposób i bez nadużywania matematyki (a tu nie ma jej prawie wcale) wyjaśnić skomplikowane zagadnienia i problemy fizyki kwantowej. Pozycja skupia się głównie na najbardziej elementarnych (przynajmniej z tych znanych obecnie) cząstkach jak też przedstawia możliwe perspektywy dalszego rozwoju tej szczególnej dziedziny jaką jest fizyka kwantowa, a konkretniej właśnie tytułowa fizyka cząstek elementarnych. Książa nie tylko objaśnia to wszystko w sposób prosty i przystępny bez konieczności uprzedniej znajomości tematu, ale autor robi to na dodatek w sposób, który zdecydowanie potrafi wciągnąć czytelnika w ten niezwykły świat kwantów. Warto też zauważyć, że autor stara się także wyjaśnić dlaczego według niego jest sens zajmować się tą tematyką i nie jest to tylko odpowiedź na zasadzie "żeby wiedzieć". Zdecydowanie mogę polecić tą pozycję.
September 12, 2018
To be perfectly honest I did not complete this one, not for lack of interest or because it's poorly written, but simply because of my lack of understanding of physics to follow the explanations.
That said, it's amazing to get an insight into the world of particle physics and to feel the commitment and pure enthusiasm that Gavin and his colleagues around the world feel towards their area.
A word of warning: I got this recommended as a kind of physics for dummies, if that's the case then i'm probably far dumber than i thought.
That said, it's amazing to get an insight into the world of particle physics and to feel the commitment and pure enthusiasm that Gavin and his colleagues around the world feel towards their area.
A word of warning: I got this recommended as a kind of physics for dummies, if that's the case then i'm probably far dumber than i thought.
May 30, 2022
Amazing book for particle physics! And the perspective from an experimental physicist who actually work on the LHC with the Higgs boson team is invaluable! Enough background, deep explanations keeping them understandable for the non-physicist and a marvelous outcome with the newest findings and the path for the coming years. I definitely recommend this book for those interested in the Standard Model, its successes and flaws, dark matter and its implications and the look for new physics beyond the SM itself!
June 23, 2017
This is one of the finest book I have read having very lucid description of our subatomic particular realm. Wonderful books written with such simplicity is very much required to spread the awareness of the beauty that remains hidden from our easy observational attempts. I find it a very thrilling experience in knowing the nuts & bolts of all that makes us & surrounds us.
February 24, 2024
A satisfying description of the world of sub-atomic particles and the Standard Model. There were a few parts that I felt could have done more explaining, but otherwise it was at equal parts cautious and optimistic, which is a good formula for a science book. I would happily recommend this to others who would be interested in the same topic - though warn of course that this is a 2016 book.
August 25, 2025
4.5 stars The best summary of particle physics I’ve read. Explained a number of ideas especially QCD much more clearly than anywhere else. Gave an overarching theme that was easy to follow and insightful. Last few chapters on new physics and ways forwards less well written, but understandably so.
July 29, 2018
A bit of a hard read for me but if you want to explore more on the science side of life and start getting into the quantum level I think this is well worth the read.
April 19, 2019
How to understand particle physics without having to become a particle physicist. Enjoyably well written and accessible. The author's enthusiasm for the subject is infectious.
August 14, 2020
Really accessible and clear explanations of everything.
June 27, 2022
Amazing book and very complete to learn the standart model.
February 1, 2024
Somehow a super interesting book about super technical stuff, amazingly well done
July 12, 2022
Decent introductory book. Well written, but maybe some important details have been omitted to avoid confusing the reader. For example, electrons exchange *virtual photons* when they interact, and not *real photons*. This is not clear in the book.
March 5, 2017
Lucid exposition of the fundamental particle universe, & all that the physicists & mathematicians are doing at LHC.
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October 28, 2016To calibrate my level of understanding of this book, I graduated with a degree in mathematics 30 years ago. So, I am of a broadly scientific mindset, my expertise is adjacent to the subject covered here, but I'm pretty out of date, to the extent that a number of the particles referred to here hadn't been discovered when I was studying.
To give a brief roadmap of the book,it covers the overall picture from molecules to the subatomic, uses the interaction of electrons and photons to sketch out electromagnetic force and introduce Feynmann diagrams,talks about the history and development of particle physics, introduces quarks and the strong force, and then the weak force. In talking about the Higgs boson, author Gavin Hesketh gives a fascinating insight into particle accelerators, how they work and what they do, before completing the Standard Model with a chapter about neutrinos. Heskeths enthusiasm for his subject, and its current situation really comes through in the final three chapters which take the reader into the unknown by addressing dark matter and energy, and by speculating on what might come next to go beyond the limitations and weaknesses of the Standard Model.
The good news is that I definitely learnt something from this book, and was able to understand much of it, the bad news is that there are some concepts with which I am still struggling, and I'll have to re-read it, or more likely go elsewhere for clarification. I have no real feel, for example for the concept of confinement, nor do I have any idea about what gauge symmetries actually are. A big part of this I feel is author Gavin Hesketh's style, and two parts of it in particular. Firstly, his analogies didn't always works for me. For example using buses and internal clocks to describe what I think we're interfering wave functions served only to confuse. Secondly he has a tendency to jump from his analogy to the real world concept in too big a leap for me. I make these comments in full knowledge that they may be totally unfair. He is trying,largely successfully, to make a massively complex subject accessible andI always had at the back of my mind the maxim that if you think you understand quantum mechanics,you probably don't.
Overall, this is a fascinating and inspiring account of a stupendously complex and confusing subject. I feel,having read it once as if I've been given an OS map with an incomplete index of symbols. I can see the roads, and understand what they are, but there is an awful lot of detail I don't yet get. I need to read it again.
To give a brief roadmap of the book,it covers the overall picture from molecules to the subatomic, uses the interaction of electrons and photons to sketch out electromagnetic force and introduce Feynmann diagrams,talks about the history and development of particle physics, introduces quarks and the strong force, and then the weak force. In talking about the Higgs boson, author Gavin Hesketh gives a fascinating insight into particle accelerators, how they work and what they do, before completing the Standard Model with a chapter about neutrinos. Heskeths enthusiasm for his subject, and its current situation really comes through in the final three chapters which take the reader into the unknown by addressing dark matter and energy, and by speculating on what might come next to go beyond the limitations and weaknesses of the Standard Model.
The good news is that I definitely learnt something from this book, and was able to understand much of it, the bad news is that there are some concepts with which I am still struggling, and I'll have to re-read it, or more likely go elsewhere for clarification. I have no real feel, for example for the concept of confinement, nor do I have any idea about what gauge symmetries actually are. A big part of this I feel is author Gavin Hesketh's style, and two parts of it in particular. Firstly, his analogies didn't always works for me. For example using buses and internal clocks to describe what I think we're interfering wave functions served only to confuse. Secondly he has a tendency to jump from his analogy to the real world concept in too big a leap for me. I make these comments in full knowledge that they may be totally unfair. He is trying,largely successfully, to make a massively complex subject accessible andI always had at the back of my mind the maxim that if you think you understand quantum mechanics,you probably don't.
Overall, this is a fascinating and inspiring account of a stupendously complex and confusing subject. I feel,having read it once as if I've been given an OS map with an incomplete index of symbols. I can see the roads, and understand what they are, but there is an awful lot of detail I don't yet get. I need to read it again.
August 11, 2018
I have been seeking a book like this for years! Most discussions on particle physics are either a broad overview or so incredibly complex that I get lost in the details. This book, however, balances the fascinating, cutting-edge science with comprehensible explanations for the subatomic particle neophyte.
May 6, 2020
Very well-written for beginners in the topics. The book uses familiar analogies and avoids complicated equation to describe the contents. However, it is still great in explaining both the fundamentals and the advanced aspects of the particles and the interaction with force.
April 16, 2017
This is by far the best and the clearest description of the strong and the weak nuclear forces i have ever read.
April 12, 2018
absolutely fantastic hesketh makes a very tricky topic easy to understand. truly accessible to anyone who wants a glimpses into the wonderful world of particle physics.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews